


The Beginning of the End

by Babylawyer



Series: Law Students [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Flash Forward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25722433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babylawyer/pseuds/Babylawyer
Summary: Prompt: Win, Lose, or Law - Five years after law school
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood
Series: Law Students [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1075212
Comments: 20
Kudos: 25





	The Beginning of the End

"You're home early," Robin remarks as his wife walks in the door of their condo. True as it is, it's a ridiculous statement, considering it's seven thirty pm and she leaves each morning at six forty-five.

"Yeah, I feel like shit," Regina says as she takes off her coat, then makes her way toward the living room. She doesn't look tired, not at all, but he had seen the dark circles under her eyes this morning before she put on her face and knows she hasn't been sleeping well.

Regina sighs as she plops herself down on the couch beside him, sinking into the cushions. "I'm _so tired_. I didn't want to have too much coffee because I'm pretty sure that's why I didn't sleep last night, but then my eyes were burning and all I could think about was taking a nap. This whatever I have is really kicking my ass. I have so much to do, but I just couldn't anymore."

"Perhaps this is your body's way of telling you to take a break," he suggests as he leans in to feel her forehead, relieved when it's not hot. His other arm settles around her shoulders, pulling her in closer.

"If it is, I'd like to have a talk with it because now is not the time. I don't have time for a break, I need to be on my A game."

She'll never agree to it but still he urges, "Take a sick day tomorrow."

"Robin, I _can't_. And don't tell me I'm being difficult. This week is Hell and I just have to get through it. I'll see about taking a half day or something on Monday but I can't this week."

He wants to tell her she doesn't need to be so defensive, but they've had this fight before, many times, and she's always short tempered when she doesn't sleep—he'd rather not poke the bear.

So he switches tracks, "I'm just trying to look after you, that's all. But how can I help?"

She shrugs, leaning more into him as he offers, "A glass of wine, maybe? I can make you dinner, or if you're sore, I could give you a massage."

"Mm, all of that sounds nice," she says, turning her back to him in a clear invitation to start. He will in a second, but first he rises from the couch goes into the kitchen pours them both a glass of red and settles back on the couch beside her.

She smiles over her shoulder at him, taking a quick sip then setting her glass onto the coffee table. She shrugs her shoulders at him, a clear invitation and he reaches for her neck, finds it hard as rock like usual. She sighs as he digs his thumb in, then hisses but urges him to continue.

He spends several minutes loosening her traps as she tells him about her day. When he's finished up the neck massage, he asks, "Anywhere else hurting?"

"Well, yes but…"

"But what?"

She twists her body back to a normal seated position, her eyes now on his again. "It's not exactly a place suited for massage."

He raises his brows, and counters, "Massage feels good most places."

She breathes out a little laugh and admits, "True. _But_ it's my boobs."

He waggles his brows at her. "I mean, I'm not seeing a problem. I'm always happy to massage the girls."

She reaches for her glass as she remarks, "Oh, I'm sure you are, but that honestly sounds like torture right now." Then she winks, or tries to, "and not the kind I enjoy."

He laughs. "Some other time then."

She nods and smiles. "I'll hold you to that."

He leans in, pressing a soft kiss to her lips that has her grin growing. God, she's so beautiful. But she is tired, worn out, likely burnt out, and he wants to do whatever he can to help her feel better. Starting with dinner. He hadn't made her anything because she doesn't normally come home in time for dinner, eats at the office or on her way home.

Her eyes widen and she shoots up, trading her glass for her phone. "Shit," is all she says as she scrolls frantically, looking for… something.

"What did you forget, my love?" He's praying it's not a work thing, the last thing she needs is to go back to the office now.

She's not paying attention to him, is looking down at her phone in shock before she curses, "Oh, fuck."

Now he's concerned, "Regina, love, _what_ is wrong?"

He places a hand on her arm and she startles, looking up at him with frantic eyes. "I need… Oh god, I… Do you remember how my doctor retired six months ago?"

He nods and she goes on, "We've been so busy at work, and it totally slipped my mind. I always had that recurring appointment every three months with Dr. Brown's office…"

He's not following, is obviously missing something, what does going to the doctor have to do with any—

His jaw drops as it clicks. "You missed your birth control… Are, are you _pregnant_?"

She swallows hard, and he can see that her mind is racing. "I think I might be. Can you go run to the store? Now, please, I _have_ to know."

"Of course, love. Should I… do you need anything else?"

His own mind is racing a mile a minute, she's been sluggish the last week and a half and super irritable, which he'd attributed to the lack of sleep, but what if it's something more?

They could be having a baby.

Regina shakes her head no in response to his question and he jumps up off the couch, heading toward the door. He needs to go, they have to know, but as soon as he's up, he turns back on his heel in a movement he's sure is comical so he can plant a kiss on her cheek.

He tells her, "I'll be right back," then he races out the door, almost forgetting to grab his coat, doing a double take as the door shuts when he doesn't feel his wallet in his pocket.

God, he's a mess, it's in his other pocket but he's forgotten his keys, oh wait no, there they are. He double checks that he has everything he needs as he waits for the elevator.

He's back in the building in under ten minutes, had raced to the Shoppers Drug Mart across the street, paused momentarily when looking at all the different kinds of pregnancy tests before grabbing a three pack of the First Response, solely because he's seen their commercial before.

Regina's still sitting on the couch in that same spot when he gets back, but she's been up. Her glass of wine is gone, there's an empty water glass beside her and a bag of sugar snap peas in hand, which are not a dinner. She needs to eat more, especially if she's eating for two.

"What do you want for dinner?" he asks her as he pases her the bag.

"Not yet. I have to… I need to know," she says ripping open the box and quickly reading the instructions.

Thank god for that, he's just as antsy to know. He's already thinking about an adorable baby girl, getting way too far ahead of himself.

He'd wanted to try to start a family right after they got married, but Regina said she needed to make it to five years before that would happen. They'd tabelled it until next year but if nature has other plans, he'll be thrilled.

Maybe this will finally get her to leave Blanchard Partners. She's been waiting for the five year mark to make that exit too, and he knows why, though he's fairly certain she could go anywhere she wanted now that she doesn't need to make it to that five year mark to be a star candidate. Then she could leave behind the sexual harassment the firm refuses to do anything about.

He's really getting ahead of himself, he should not be thinking all these things when it's not confirmed yet.

But god, a baby, their baby.

She rushes to the bathroom, and he gives her her privacy so she can pee on the stick in peace. He wonders for a second how that even works, but then she's calling him in, telling him they'll know in a minute.

She has a suspicion, but in sixty short seconds they'll know for sure.

Those sixty seconds seem to take forever to pass. He's in the bathroom with Regina now, holding her close, waiting for the timer on her phone to go off. She set the test face down and Robin longs to pick it up and look, to see if the result is already there. But there's only thirty seconds left so he kisses her head, her hair, reaching a bit to get her neck, her jaw—soft pecks, steady reassurances as they wait.

She's trembling in his arms, and he has no idea what she's thinking. He knows that she wants kids eventually, but as happy as he is from this possibility, he knows it might not be the same for her.

He'll support her no matter what, but if she is pregnant, he really hopes she's happy about it.

It's close enough to that five year mark, and by the time she had the baby they'd be right there.

Ten seconds left. How is there still ten seconds left? He watches as the countdown on her phone moves to nine, eight, seven…

When that timer finally goes off, they both jump even though they were expecting it. They laugh awkwardly, but neither moves.

"I can't… Robin, can you do it? I'm _freaking out_."

He will in a second, but more important than knowing is comforting her, so he hugs her more tightly, "I will. It's going to be okay, love, no matter what it is, we'll get through it. I love you."

She turns in his hold, her eyes coming to meet his as she smiles, and he drops a kiss to her brow as she tells him, "I love you, too. Now check it, _please_."

He's nervous too, feels that prickling heaviness in his chest as he reaches for the stick. His hand starts to tremor, and he wills himself not to drop it, feeling ridiculous.

Then he sees the result and it's like the whole world freezes. He doesn't know how long he stands there, his eyes seeing the two lines, but not registering it. His brain slowly catches up and realizes what that means and _holy shit_.

"You're pregnant," he finally breathes, and Regina gasps, grabbing the stick from his hand staring down at those two lines.

"I'm pregnant."

He nods, trying to keep his own excitement under wraps, not wanting to pressure her or make her feel bad if she's not there with him. But god, this is incredible. "How do you feel, darling?"

"We're having a baby," she breathes incredulously.

"We are."

"We're having a _baby_."

He nods again, repeating himself. "We are."

"This is… wow. I… wow."

He thinks he knows the answer to this but, "Is that a good or a bad wow?"

"Good wow," she assures her eyes still wide, mouth still open. "I'm overwhelmed. As soon as I realized, I just knew, I don't know how to explain it. But knowing and confirming it is _different_."

"But you're happy?"

Her face softens, a shy smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I am."

"Thank god," he breathes then picks her up, taking them out of the bathroom so he can spin her around, letting out a whoop of excitement that makes her giggle.

When he sets her down he kisses her, a quick, soft peck that breaks so he can marvel, "We're having a baby."

His eyes are watering and he's smiling so hard his face is starting to hurt, but he can't stop smiling. She's smiling, too, beaming in that way that makes his heart thud. She's so beautiful and she's carrying his baby—this is incredible.

"We are," She breathes, still smiling broadly as she speaks. "We're going to have a baby. We're going to be parents."

"This is amazing. I'm so happy," he tells her before pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

"I am, too. I hadn't thought too much about it, and it's a bit surreal. I don't think I've fully comprehended that there's a tiny human growing inside me, relying on me—Oh god, I've had so much coffee. I just had _wine_. What if? And I don't have a doctor anymore. And I have to—"

He rubs her cheek as he requests, "I'm sure it's all fine. You didn't know and that can't be uncommon." She's still worrying her bottom lip, that happy aura all but gone. "Can we please worry about all that tomorrow? There's plenty of time to stress and research, but tonight I'd like to cuddle with my wife and do whatever she wants to celebrate our baby."

She nods, literally shaking it off as she shrugs her shoulders and flicks her head. She takes a breath, shakes again, and when she looks back at him she's resumed smiling. "We can do that. But first, we need dinner."

That _we_ makes his heart swell because she knows she means her and the baby.

"Indeed you both do, what can I make?"

She ponders it for a second, her lips pursing. "I mean I could really go for some hot wings but…"

"But what? Let's go."

He's already starting toward the door, as she remarks, "Robin, it's late, and do you really want to wait around for me to eat?"

She's so silly sometimes, you'd think it was midnight not just shy of nine the way she's talking. "I do, actually. You're carrying my baby. I'm going to do whatever I can to make you happy."

She groans, but she's following him, smiling as she teases, "You're such a sap."

"Yes." He grabs her coat off of the rack, "but I'm your sap."

She rolls her eyes as he passes her her coat and she takes it from him. "That you are. I still can't believe I married such a romantic."

He waits until he has his coat on so he can turn back to her to say, "You love me."

She smirks, "I do."

"And I love you, now let's go get some hot wings to celebrate your pregnancy."

He's trying to get them back to the celebratory mood, but she keeps making fun of him. "Us? Didn't you already have dinner?"

He nods, "I did, but I could eat a few wings."

"Oh, so all of that _I'd wait around for you_ was bullshit."

It wasn't, but if they are going out he's going to take advantage. And he can't help but point out, "You are the one who said that, not me."

"Whatever." She reaches for the door, "you're buying."

"Yes, ma'am. Anything for you and my baby."

She smiles back at him, then steps out the door and lets it slam in his face. He can hear her laughing on the other side as he says, "Hey!"

At dinner he somehow manages to talk her into calling in sick the next day. She's much more agreeable now after the news of their happy accident, and they spend their night talking excitedly about the future.

He's such a lucky man.


End file.
